Tarawa (CV 40) - Naval Cruise Book

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Our wounded could not be moved. Men opened their first-aid kits, bandaged their buddies in the darkness, and gave them water from their canteens. Non-commissioned oflicers moved among the men, shaking them, warning them to stay awake. Major jones, at the Command Post, had to turn down a request for reinforcements. He sent up a mortar platoon, all the water they could, hand grenades and a supply of small-arms ammunition. 8:00 p.m.: Three thousand yards off shore a destroyer fired the first round on squares 201 through 207 to prevent the japs' from reorganizing and to disrupt their communications. The ground shook as the shells exploded. NI-low was it? CKEW c'Fifty yards ahead of their lines. They want more in the same spotf, More on the same target. Tell them the shootingls greatf' 10:30 p.m.: Major Jones ordered artillery fire on squares 208 and 210. 11 :00 p.m.: The japs attempted to create a diversion. A few minutes later they charged as before, screaming Banzai!,' The Marines stopped the charge and threw the Japs back. 3:00 a.m.: The enemy moved machine guns into some of their wrecked trucks and began firing. 'fWashington Charlie dropped a stick of bombs and headed home. They missed the men. 4:00 a.m.: The Japs launched their final and most desperate attack. It was now or never. A few Japs were naked and armed only with knives. For an hour, hand-to-hand fighting went on. B Company lines sagged but did not break. Some Marines who ran out of ammunition fought with their hands, choking the enemy to death. Men gave their lives to save their buddies. 5:00 a.m.: The counter-attack ended. The stars were fading. Itis over. We stopped them. Send stretcher-bearers to evacuate the wounded. Navy corpsmen bandaged, applied tourniquets, injected morphine, lit cigarettes and stuck them between cracked lips and said, You,ll be all right, kid. Before the men unslung their packs they lined up at the water cans. It was warm water, dirty brown in color, with a repugnant taste, but it was sweet to them. They stretched out on the earth. Some slept at once, some too tense to sleep at first sat about in groups, talking and cracking jokes until the tenseness wore off. ' They took crushed packs of cigarettes and lighted up. It was forbidden at night in battle, cigarette discipline had been a great trial. V November 23, 1943. - 8:00 a.m.: The Third Battalion of the Sixth got the signal to push down the tail of Betio to the end of the islet and finish OH' the remaining Japs. Unable to coordinate, the Japs fought individually for their lives in confused fashion. It took the Battalion four and a half hours to push through to the end of Betio. Soon after the Sixth had finished its job, the First Battalion of the Eighth succeeded in cleaning out the last remnant of resistance on Beach Red 1. This pocket had held out during the entire fight. 1:12 p.m.: General Smith had the announcement carried by field telephone to all units on the islet and by radio to the ships of the task force that the battle of Betio was over. One Marine wrote his wife: 'C . . . All I can think of right now is coming home to you. Pray that it will be soonf' General Smith walked among his men. One youngster showed him a dent in his helmet. The general told him to keep the helmet always. Press representatives and Marine Corps combat correspondents, using water cans for chairs and a japanese torpedo for a desk, pounded away at their typewriters on a story that was to electrify the nation.

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4. Fresh tr0Ops Of the First Battalion, Sixth Regiment, were to strike out along Beach Black fSouthj where the japs had their fortifications in greatest strength and concentration, ultimately to push through the 200 yard front end of the airfield. 8:15 a.m.: The Marines along the south coast went into action. Orders were to advance 1,400 yards along the south beach on a 200 yard front and attain its objective by nightfall. This stretch was about the toughest to crack on the islet. There were at least six pillboxes in every 100 yards, occupied by three to twenty Japs. Naval gunfire had not knocked out these minature fortresses. They had to be neutralized with tank fire, flame throwers, and hand grenades. Marines walked in front of tanks, directly into Jap fire, to spot targets. When these men were wounded or killed, others took their places. All were volunteers. November 23, 1943. 11:45 a.m.: Colonel Holmes reported his first battalion just inland from the south end of Beach Green. This made our disposition stand roughly like this: On the north, where our initial landings had been made, we had extended in two narrow columns on either side of the pier, piercing the airstrip and boxing the area in along the south beach. Colonel Holmes, battalion had secured the entire length of the west beach for a depth of 200 yards. The laps in the west areas were encircled. 11:59 a.m.: Colonel Shoup received this message: CG with small advance party will land Beach Green QNorthj about 12:00.'3 General Smith found it necessary to take to the water before he reached the beach. His landing boat grounded 100 yards off shore. After visiting command posts he returned to the beach for an amphibious tractor, it was the only way to get to Beach Red 2. During the trip the driver was wounded in the head by a bullet and the tractor disabled. Another tractor was sent for, after half an hour delay the General reached his command post. Colonel Shoup notified the Flagship when the General arrived. 1:00 p.m.: On the southern beach the First Battalion of the Sixth Marines renewed its push. It took six hours to cover the next 600 yards. Casualties were again heavy. Medium tanks had to be dis- patched to replace light tanks in neutralizing pillboxes. 3:05 p.m.: f'Land available personnel of Combat Team Two on Beach Green as labor details? 3:30 p.m.: HB Medical land on Bairiki, establish field hospital as soon as possible. A and C Medical land Beach Red 2 soon as possible. Bring morphine, plasma, dressings, stretchersf' 3:50 p.m.: ffLand guns, ammunition and personnel of 'Xi Defense Battalion as soon as possible at pier? Request detail to clear bodies around pierf' 4:00 .m.: f'Situation not favorable for ra id cleanu of Betiof, P P P Before digging in for the night the companies re-formed and moved into defensive positions. f'Unsling packs and dig in. They spoke in whispers to prevent the unseen Japs in front of them from detecting their positions. The sky deepened from rich purple to blackness. The first stars began to shine. Silence settled, disturbed only by the faint scuffing of shovels as the men went on digging their foxholes. Then - 'fBanzai V' Blood for the Emperor! Two words went through the line: H- ffStand fastf, The first Jap counter-attacks lasted an hour. The .Iaps leaped from their holes and charged, running like possessed demons, waiving sabers, tossing hand grenades, firing light machine guns from the hip, charging with fixed bayonets. With knives, bayonets, rifle butts, the Marines fought them back. They were repulsed but not before opening a gap between A and B companies of the Sixth.

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Intelligence officers questioned prisoners. Chaplains moved among wounded Marines on stretchers Warehouse and ordnance section repaired weapons covered with rust and dirt that had been reclaimed from the reef Anti-aircraft batteries were landed and their guns placed in position Seabees were driving bull dozers onto the airstrip, getting it ready for the first American planes due the next morning. Naval and all' l7OIHlJ211'Cl111CHt had been purposely kept off the airstrip to facilitate repairs. Radio Tokyo broadcast this version of the battle 1. That five thousand Marines were sent to the bottom of the Pacific when their transports were sunk. 2. That subsequently the japs sank three large aircraft carriers, one battleship, one cruiser, and shot down eighty-nine planes H3. That heavy fighting still raged at Tarawa November 24 1943 The assault troops began leaving Betio. It was slow business. They were leaving many comrades behind, in shallow graves, still lying face down in the waters of the lagoon, lying along the battered beaches, hanging on brutal wire. They did not talk much, these men who had done the impossible There were no longer boys among them, only men Bloody, bandaged heroes Some natives reached Betio. One expressed his feelings succinctly: f'Betio, boom, boom, good! he said with a wide smile. Most of the Gilbertese felt like that The natives set to work with a will, happy to be paid in British coin instead of the two bowls of rice the Japanese had given them Cemeteries sprang up like patches of weeds. Most of the crosses had names of men printed on them in rough fashion. One read: U killed 10 japs, it will take 100 to avenge your death? 1 . ' . , , . . 93 L . , . 33 Besides the Marine dead, hundred of blackened japanese, seared and charred, lay in blockhouses and gun positions. Men explored. Walking around the islet after the battle, it seemed incredible that such an insignificant sand spit should have been worth so much in blood, that these few acres of coral sand could have been classed as one of the major military bases of the japanese in the Pacific. But it was true. Few noticed at first the two denuded palm trees just a hundred yards from the beach. Private First Class james Williams of Birmingham, Alabama, stepped forward and lifted his bugle to sound colors for the first time over Tarawa. His dungarees were very dirty from wearing them in a tank all through the battle, he was now wearing white. Major General julian Smith took one look at the white uniform of the Japanese Navy and said: Take those damn things off and keep them off! After this had been attended to, Technical Sergeant Vito Million of Philadelphia, and Corporal Mickey Frankenstein of Los Angeles took hold of the shrouds and raised our flag to the top of the tall, shrapnel-pocked palm tree trunk. The British flag was raised on the other tree a few minutes later. Men turned from digging foxholes, unloading boats, burying the dead. They stood at attention their dirty tired young hands at salute. Some of the wounded managed to stand up too. The more seriously hurt could only turn their heads as they lay on their litters. They lost a little of their weariness, a little of their sorrow. They could see their flag. It made them proud. For they knew, more than anyone else, what it meant to put it there.